Method for manufacturing metallic wool

ABSTRACT

An improved method for manufacturing metallic wool (e.g. steel wool) in which a metal wire (e.g. a steel wire) is drawn through a shaving machine provided with successively mounted shaving cutters, wherein the cross-sectional profile of the wire which is drawn through the shaving machine has two portions, one of the portions being substantially semi-circular in cross-section and the other of the portions being substantially rectangular in cross-section. Generally one dimension of the rectangular portion is substantially equal to the diameter of the semi-circular portion and the other dimension of the rectangular portion is in the range of about one-third to two-thirds of the diameter. Preferably this other dimension of the rectangular portion is substantially equal to the radius of the semi-circular portion. An improved metallic wool product is produced by the method of the present invention.

United States Patent [191 Nieberding et a1.

[75] Inventors: Henri Nieberding, Antwerpen;

Edgard Van Den Bergen, Deurne, both of Belgium [73] Assignee: S. A. Bekaert-Cockerill, Hemisken,

Belgium [22] Filed: Feb. 22, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 117,615

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 27, 1970 Netherlands 7002881 [52] US. Cl. 29/4.5, 72/275 [51] Int. Cl B23p 17/06 [58] Field of Search 29/4.5; 72/275 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,029,206 l/1936 Williams 72/275 1,163,062 12/1915 Belz et a]... 72/275 170,806 12/1875 Benwell 72/275 METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC WOOL Oct. 9, 1973 5 7] ABSTRACT An improved method for manufacturing metallic wool (e.g. steel wool) in which a metal wire (e.g. a steel wire) is drawn through a shaving machine provided with successively mounted shaving cutters, wherein the cross-sectional profile of the wire which is drawn through the shaving machine has two portions, one of the portions being substantially semi-circular in crosssection and the other of the portions being substantially rectangular in cross-section. Generally one dimension of the rectangular portion is substantially equal to the diameter of the semi-circular portion and the other dimension of the rectangular portion is in the range of about one-third to two-thirds of the diameter. Preferably this other dimension of the rectangular portion is substantially equal to the radius of the semi-circular portion. An improved metallic wool product is produced by the method of the present invention.

10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC WOOL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to an improved method for the manufacture of metallic wool, to the metal wire employed in this method and to the metallic wool manufactured by this method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method for the manufacture of steel wool, to the profile steel wire employed in this method and to the steel wool manufactured by this method.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

Generally, heretofore, steel wool has been manufactured by drawing a steel wire having a circular crosssection through a shaving machine provided with successively mounted shaving cutters. A typical shaving machine is provided with, for example, successively mounted shaving cutters which are set in fixed positions, but may be adjusted to modify their set positions, if desired. Normally, vertical shaving tools are used that are mounted in tiers in the same direction as the moving wire. In manufacturing the steel wool the round wire is drawn through the machine past the shaving cutters with the side of the wire opposite the cutters being supported by bearings. In order to be able to draw the wire through the shaving machine it is necessary to leave a residual segment of the circular cross-section of the wire with sufi'icient thickness to prevent breakage of the wire. The drawing force on the wire is is directly related to the forces exercised during the shaving and such force may be considerable. Thus, a significant sector of the circular cross-section of the wire remains and is not shaved. The support bearings of the shaving ma chine are of considerable importance and their design is dependent on the diameter of the wire which is drawn through the shaving machine. The design and method of operation of such conventional wire shaving machines are well known in the art and need not be described further herein.

The great disadvantage of the steel wire shaving machines employed to produce steel wool of the type described above is that a low quality of steel wool is produced by the first several shaving cutters on account of the poor stability of the wire from which the wool is removed by these shaving cutters. Thus, the steel wire produces very little grip for the vertical shaving tools at the front end of the machine so that the wire can very easily turn around its axis in the bearing which results in a very poor wool quality. In order to overcome this disadvantage it has been suggested that a wire having a semi-circular cross-section be employed. The purpose of this approach is to provide a flat starting surface for the shaving cutters to thereby avoid the manufacture of a rough inferior starting wool. However, the manufacture of steel wool by this method has a number of significant disadvantages. For example, the wire quantity processed in the machine is reduced by approximately half for a given diameter of round wire. Consequently this results in a considerably decreased steel wool production for a given machine capacity.

In order to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of manufacturing steel wool using either a wire having a circular cross-section or a wire having a semicircular cross-section, the present applicants tried a new method employing a wire having a cross-section part-way in between these two extremes. More particularly, the applicants utilized a wire in which a segment of the circular cross-section was lacking. This method of utilizing a wire having a segmented cross-sectional profile, however, still was found to have certain disadvantages. For example, the starting surface necessarily remains relatively narrow so that the manufacture of high quality steel wool with the first several shaving cutters is only partly achieved. Further, the wire quantity which can be processed by the machine is necessarily smaller than in the case ofa round wire. Further, the residual segment which remains, which is necessary to draw the wire through the shaving machines, represents a greater proportion of the initial wire so that material loss expressed in terms of percent increases. Also, the initial shaving cutters, for example, the first one or two of approximately 10 cutters of existing shaving machines are not employed when a wire of this profile is drawn through the shaving machine. The present applicants then concluded that these disadvantages could be overcome by employing a wire with a square-shaped cross-section. This, however, would create certain additional complications. For example, the existing wire shaving machines (which are designed to process wire having a circular cross-section at their surface opposite the shaving cutter) would have to be either discarded and new machines designed and constructed to handle wire having a square-shaped cross-section, or the existing machines would have to be converted at considerable expense.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved method for manufacturing metallic wool (such as steel wool) in which a metal wire (such as a steel wire) is drawn through a shaving machine provided with successively mounted shaving cutters, wherein the wire employed has two cross-sectional portions, one of the portions being substantially semi-circular in cross-section and the other of the portions being substantially rectangular in cross-section. Generally one dimension of the rectangular portion is substantially equal to the diameter of the semi-circular portion and the other dimension of the rectangular portion is in the range of about onethird to two-thirds of the diameter. Preferably this other dimension of the rectangular portion is substantially equal to the radius of the semi-circular portion. An improved metallic wool product (such as steel wool) is produced by the method of the present invention.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing steel wool of improved quality using existing shaving machines generally designed to handle wires of circular cross-section.

A further object of the present invention is to increase the production capacity of existing wire shaving machines generally designed to handle wires of circular cross-section.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a steel wool manufacturing process in which the percentage of loss or scrap is substantially reduced.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved manufacturing process for producing steel wool in which all of the shaving cutters of existing shaving machines are employed while still producing a high quality steel wool product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be best understood by reference to the drawings in which FIG. 1 shows a profile of the cross-section of a wire employed in the method of the present invention,

FIG. 2 shows the preferred embodiment of the profile of the cross-section of a wire employed in the method of the present invention,

FIG. 3 shows the wire of FIG. 2 in perspective, and

FIG. 4 shows schematically the wire of FIGS. 2 and 3 being processed through a conventional wire shaving machine in accordance with the method of the present invention to produce metallic wool.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows the cross-sectional profile ofa wire employed in the method of the present invention. The wire has two cross-sectional portions, one of the portions being substantially semi-circular in cross-section and the other of the portions being substantially rectangular in cross-section. Generally the dimension of the rectangular portion is substantially equal to the diameter of the semi-circular portion and the other dimension of the rectangular portion is the range of about one-third to two-thirds of the diameter. More particularly, referring to FIG. 1, the semi-circular portion has a diameter D and the rectangular portion has a width B which equals the diameter D. The height H of the rectangular portion as stated above may vary between about onethird to two-thirds of the diameter D. The overall height ofthe wire cross-section is indicated as A in FIG. I.

FIG. 2 shows the preferred embodiment of the crosssectional profile of a wire employed in the method of the present invention. In this preferred embodiment the width B of the rectangular portion of the cross-section is equal to the diameter D of the semi-circular portion of the cross-section and the height H is equal to the radius of the semi-circular portion (or expressed in another way, is equal to 1/2 of the diameter of the semicircular portion). In this case the overall height of the wire which is represented as A is equal to the diameter D of the semi-circular portion.

The profile wire of the present invention may be made by any of a number of techniques. For example, a wire having a semi-circular cross-section may be welded to a wire having a rectangular cross-section wherein the diameter of the semi-circular wire is approximately equal to the width of the rectangular wire. However, normally it is preferred to manufacture the profile wire of the present invention by employing conventional wire manufacturing techniques. Thus, for example, the wire raw material may be passed through a die having a configuration approximately equivalent to the desired profile of the wire to be employed in the present invention. In the process of manufacturing the wire employed in the present invention it is possible to manufacture a wire in which the corners of the rectangle opposite the semi-circular portion would be straight-edged. However, normally these corners will be slightly rounded, for example, as indicated by the dotted lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. With regard to the profile shown in FIG. 2, it is to be noted that with square corners the weight of wire is approximately 13.5 percent greater than in the case of a round wire with diameter D. In practice, however, this percent advantage is slightly less due to the fact that normally the wire employed will have slightly rounded corners as indicated by the dotted lines in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The method of the present invention may be carried out with metal-removing machines or shaving machines of the conventional type designed to handle round wire. The method of operation is generally the same. Thus, the wire of the present invention is drawn in the usual way through the metal shaving machines. The steel wool product manufactured from the profile wire of the present invention is of a very high quality from the start. That is, beginning with the first shaving cutter of the machine, a steel wool product of excellent quality is removed from each successive shaving cutter. One of the most important advantages of the method of the present invention is that it is now possible to use existing machinery for the manufacture of steel wool and to turn out a greater steel wool quantity of high quality during the passage of the profile wire through the shaving machine, than in the case of a round wire having a diameter equal to the diameter of the semicircular cross-section of the profile wire. In manufacturing steel wool by the method of the present invention the entire rectangular portion of the profile wire is consumed as well as a certain portion of the semicircular cross-sectional portion of the wire. Generally speaking, the cross-sectional dimensions of the scrap wire existing from the shaving machine will be the same as in the case of a round wire. Thus, the percent of scrap or discard is less in the case of the present invention than in the conventional method.

The method of the present invention for processing the wire shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 to produce a metallic or steel wool product is shown in FIG. 4. A wire shaving machine 10 of conventional design and having a plurality of successively mounted shaving cutters 12 (in this embodiment ten cutters) is employed to shave a wire 14 having a cross section corresponding to the wire of FIGS. 2 and 3. The wire 14 prior to being drawn through shaving machine 10 is represented by reference number 16 and has a cross sectional profile as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. After being drawn through shaving machine 10, the wire 14 is reduced substantially in its cross sectional dimensions to form a residual segment 18 which in practice is that which is sufficient to enable the wire 14 to be drawn through shaving machine 10 by pulling on segment 18. The product produced by drawing wire 14 through shaving machine 10 is a metallic or steel wool which comprises a plurality of wire shavings 20.

The present invention was evaluated in the following test:

A profile wire designed in accordance with the present invention in which the height H was to one-half of the diameter D was processed on the same machine as a round wire of the type conventionally processed in the wire shaving machine. Both the profile wire and the round wire were manufactured from the same casting or wire rod lot. The profile wire was prepared by welding the semi-circular portion to the rectangular portion and then passed through the metal-removing machine without any adjustment of the shaving cutters. Only the straightener at the entrance had to be opened up a slight degree.

In the operation of the metal-removing or shaving machine it was noted that the temperature near the first shaving cutter was about 75C as compared with a normal temperature, in the case of the round wire of about 505 5C. This, of course, was to be expected since the quantity of supplied wire in the case of the profile wire of the present invention was greater than in the case of 5 the round wire, so that consequently the required energy of the first shaving cutter was much greater. It would be possible, if desired, to avoid this higher temperature by reducing slightly the shaving depth of the first shaving cutter. It was further noted in the test that in the case of the profile wire of the present invention the flat upper surface of the profile was immediately stable relative to the shaving cutters, as compared with the test utilizing the round wire. The test with the profile wire of the present invention demonstrated that the existing machinery designed for handling round wires could be utilized with the profile wire of the present invention with only very minor adjustments, such as for example, a slight widening of the straightening device at the entrance and adjusting the shaving depth of the first shaving cutter.

While the present invention has been described with reference to a particular specific embodiment it is to be understood that it is not to be limited thereto, but is to be construed broadly and restricted solely by the scope of the appended claims. Thus, although the present invention has been described in terms of using a steel wire to produce steel wool it is to be understood that the method of the present invention can be employed with similar advantages in the case of other metallic wools produced from metal wires. For example, other metals which may be employed include copper, aluminum, bronze, zinc and the like.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method for manufacturing metallic wool in which a metal wire is drawn through a shaving machine provided with successively mounted shaving cutters, the improvement which comprises drawing through said shaving machine a metal wire having two crosssectional portions, one of said portions being substantially semi-circular in cross-section and the other of said portions being substantially rectangular in crosssection, wherein said portions of substantially rectangular cross-section and then a part of said portion of substantially semi-circular cross-section are shaved off in successive shaving steps by said successively mounted cutters to produce said metallic wool.

2. The method of claim 1 in which one dimension of said rectangular portion is substantially equal to the diameter of the semi-circular portion and the other dimension of said rectangular portion is in the range of about one-third to two-thirds of said diameter.

3. The method of claim 2 in which said other dimension of said rectangular portion is substantially equal to the radius of said semi-circular portion.

4. The invention of claim 1 in which the two corners of said rectangular portion opposite said semi-circular portion are rounded.

5. The method of claim 1 in which said wire is a steel wire.

6. A metallic wool product manufactured by the method of claim 1.

7. A metallic wool product manufactured by the method of claim 2.

8. A metallic wool product manufactured by the method of claim 3.

9. A metallic wool product manufactured by the method of claim 4.

10. A steel wool product manufactured by the method of claim 5. 

1. In a method for manufacturing metallic wool in which a metal wire is drawn through a shaving machine provided with successively mounted shaving cutters, the improvement which comprises drawing through said shaving machine a metal wire having two cross-sectional portions, one of said portions being substantially semi-circular in cross-section and the other of said portions being substantially rectangular in cross-section, wherein said portions of substantially rectangular cross-section and then a part of said portion of substantially semi-circular cross-section are shaved off in successive shaving steps by said successively mounted cutters to produce said metallic wool.
 2. The method of claim 1 in which one dimension of said rectangular portion is substantially equal to the diameter of the semi-circular portion and the other dimension of said rectangular portion is in the range of about one-third to two-thirds of said diameter.
 3. The method of claim 2 in which said other dimension of said rectangular portion is substantially equal to the radius of said semi-circular portion.
 4. The invention of claim 1 in which the two corners of said rectangular portion opposite said semi-circular portion are rounded.
 5. The method of claim 1 in which said wire is a steel wire.
 6. A metallic wool product manufactured by the method of claim
 7. A metallic wool product manufactured by the method of claim
 2. 8. A metallic wool product manufactured by the method of claim
 3. 9. A metallic wool product manufactured by the method of claim
 4. 10. A steel wool product manufactured by the method of claim
 5. 